ZIPANG SENGOKU WARRIORS DIGITAL GRAPHIC NOVEL
ROLE
Concept
Creative direction
Strategy
Art direction
Producing
Design
CHALLENGE
Zipang Casino is an online casino site that offers the most reliable support in the Japanese market. (Online gaming license issued by the government of the Republic of the Philippines). Due to regulations in Japan surrounding the promotion of gambling services, Zipang had to find a creative way to promote what they do and create a touchpoint/ communication channel with customers.
SOLUTION
We decided that an Instagram account would be the brand’s most effective channel for communication and produced catchy and quirky manga content that was organically sharable. In collaboration with a comic book writer and manga artist, YL Projects developed an engaging story series that could be shared and read on Instagram. The story follows the journey of warlords from the Warring States period. By combining these three never-before-seen elements, we created a new kind of manga content.
RESULT
Since the launch of the Instagram account, the number of followers has increased by 300%. In addition, the interaction of the followers and their vocal fandom of the story – in both comments and DMs – is far higher than we had expected. It’s created a new, fun and effective communication channel for a brand that would otherwise be largely barred from promoting its services in Japan.
Transforming Instagram into a new manga medium
Without the benefits of paid social media content, the stories resulted in an increased following of 300% in just two months. Given the narrative focus of the account, these followers remain engaged and invested readers and fans of the account.
Using storytelling to grow audiences organically
Throughout the stories, we also artfully integrated coupon codes that could be used on the real-life platform, creating a fun approach to integrating a conversion point, and turning readers into active users of the site.
TEAM
Strategy, concept: Yoichiro Tamada
Direction: Yoichiro Tamada
Producer: Genta Sawabe, Mitsutomi Akitaka (vision track)
Scriptwriter: KAGEMORI.Y
Illustrator: Ryota Okamura (vision track)
TIMELINE
2021